#and have to fight Cackletta all over again

[pianokantzart]

SUPERSTAR SAGA YOU CAN'T JUST PUT ME THROUGH ALL THAT AND THEN GIVE ME A TIME LIMIT TO GET OUT OF THE SHIP BEFORE IT EXPLODES WITHOUT GIVING ME A SAVE STATE FIRST THAT WAS SO SCARY PLEASE DON'T DO THAT

[heloflor]

Random Super Paper Mario headcanon because it doesn’t fit any of my WIPs so might as well say it here: the way Nastasia hypnotizes people is by taking some feelings or desires that the person already possesses and amplifying them to the max. So it’s less about brainwashing and more about bringing out a specific side of the person targeted.

For Bowser’s army, she used their desire to fight and win, to the point of them forgetting their loyalty and siding with the strongest leader around instead.

For Luigi, it was the resentment he has over being overshadowed by his brother, especially since I hc the Paper Mario series as taking place after Mario and Luigi in which the Luigi bullying is at its worst. Hence why Mr. L is such a boastful asshole talking about how amazing he is, or even the fact he calls his robot his brother as he would have negative feelings associated to a possible real sibling, hence the desire to “replace” him with a robot (note that I don’t think Luigi resents Mario himself but instead resents his situation with everyone preferring his brother over him, but he doesn’t hold it against Mario himself, especially since I see Mario as the one hyping him up and defending him against criticism the most).

On that note, I could see a version of SPM in which Luigi actually remembers who he is but is still willing to fight for Count Bleck, or maybe Nastasia changed some of his memories to make him think he and Mario had a terrible fight that led Luigi to Bleck instead of the whole kidnapping wedding (I may or may not have listened to Caleb Hyles’ cover of “Other Friends” while thinking about the first encounter with Mr. L 😅)

For Peach, I hc that her and Bowser are ex-lovers who had a bad breakup, and after several years of no contact Bowser needed some land, kidnapped her as blackmail, realized he still liked her and the whole kidnapping situation started. So for the wedding, Nastasia exemplified whatever romantic feelings Peach might have left, bringing her back to a time she would’ve been more than happy to marry Bowser. This could also be why Peach was able to fight back as much, since between how long it’s been and all his horrible actions, her possible remaining feelings for Bowser would be either very minimal or buried deep down, or both, hence requiring more effort for the hypnosis to work. Granted I like to think her fighting the hypnosis is also due to her being terrified of being used again the same way she had been by the Shadow Queen.

And on a related note, since we’re talking different hypnosis, I could see Fawful’s hypnosis work by making all the soldier’s memories of Bowser get replaced with memories of Cackletta or himself depending on which game we’re talking about. Basically the memories remain the same but instead of Bowser being there it’s Cackletta/Fawful, hence the army blindly following. Though it does raise the question of some brainwashed people acting “robotic” in Bowser’s Inside Story, along with the fact that the Koopalings can forget their own father while some random Goomba remembers him in Minion’s Quest.

[parmsnik]

Hiii! :0

Can we have some more information about Naspi? Do they have a backstory? 👀

Also I've seen your post where they get shipped with Fawful! Is that canon to their story?

Btw your art is really cool, I love your style! :3

Hi! Yeah I would love to tell you guys about Naspi!

Naspi was raised in the valley, he adores heat. Naspi found a huge passion for jewelry making, he's great at making many types with many materials, but they usually stays toward making bracelets! You know you're their friend when he makes you enough bracelets to cover your arm lmao. Naspi's favorite color is brown, yeah he knows that's not a lot of people's favorite color, but do they care? Nahhh. Naspi loves colorful desgins, as you may see on their vest overcoat.

And yes! The Fawful Naspi ship (Nasful) is canon to Naspi's story!

Right after the events of the 2nd Fawful fight ( after he kinda gets kicked out of Bowletta's castle) , he lands in Teehee valley and is found by me boi. Naspi never liked or disliked Cackletta and Fawful, (if this was dnd he would be a lawful neutral, soon to turn into a chaotic evil ). He helps Fawful and the two become friends. Fawful drags Naspi to run the bean n' badge with him, and he does happily, (adding n' beads to the end of the shop name) and then, the two starts to date, and Naspi slowly, but surely becomes better at attack and goes on a villan/corruption arc. He wants to become a good enough villan to take care if those violent Mario brothers.

In Bowser's inside story, after Fawful takes over the castle, they uhhh have a big fancy wedding hahaa

Before the final Fawful fight, you have one against the newly married Naspi. It's Obvious he's gotten better at attacking, but even with their improvement, you defeat them. After the final events of Bowser's inside story, Naspi is just, done with being evil. In the next few games, he's mostly a NPC, they still have a hatred for the bros but, doesn't attack, he's trying to finally mellow out once again.

I really hope you all enjoyed this little post about Naspi! I'll make sure to draw some art tonight!

[federthenotsogreat]

Mcir thoughts are getting crazy right now

When Mario and Luigi are fighting Yuri in his soul form, Demonsoul wants to join them, but Cackletta stops her. She basically drags her out of the castle, tells her to leave and to not come back.

She does so because she knows that Yuri is going to die. She knows what soul death feels and looks like. She doesn't want Deamy to witness that.

What Cackletta doesn't know, is that Deamy has already seen it. Hundreds of times actually. She witnessed it with Cackletta's soul herself, over and over again.

The idea that Cackletta tries to protect Deamy from a truth that they have already witnessed due to their own, planned actions is so disturbing to me.

Cackletta wants to protect Deamy from witnessing all this agony, not knowing that she herself has died an agonizing death at Deamy's hands, over and over again.

[dooxliss]

@keylovesstuff @bewilderingbog ask and you shall receive

i’ve mostly been thinking about the first two mario and luigi games since i have to refresh myself on peach’s role in bis

superstar saga:

as we learn midgame, peasley visited peach before the events of the game to warn her about cackletta. their relationship and betrothal allowed him to get an immediate audience, and toadette is chosen to have her voice stolen in peach’s stead. the rest of the game plays out as normal, and toadette is treated in the beanbean kingdom once her voice is released by fawful.

peach still travels and visits little fungitown, which was established when she was first kidnapped by bowser (plus she has never visited the beanbean kingdom before) so it’s more or less the newest town. toadette also accompanies them, and is left behind by bowletta and fawful when peach is kidnapped.

the only other change i believe is the infamous luigi crossdressing scene. there are multiple but limited super crowns, and they do not work on humans. imitation of mushroomian royalty outside of clear entertainment is highly illegal, which the bros banked on being common enough knowledge that luigi would be accepted as the real deal. (it works! this is also why peach was so surprised at the sight, but she does not acknowledge the events happening in a silent pardon bc toadsworth would blow a gasket)

luigi makes sure to keep the crown with him but ditches everything else

post game events, peasley and peach meet and officially call off their betrothal ✌🏽

partners in time:

originally this game wasn’t going to happen in my au since the bros are isekai’d and baby peach didn’t look like that (i imagine she was introduced to the crown around age 10) but i just tweaked a few things re: method

so now professor e. gadd invents a time machine that runs with no issues! awesome! so after that he decides to modify the machine so it can wander dimensions as well. peach successfully convinces toadsworth to let her try this variation since the machine has already been proven to work and. well ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

since peach was going, toadiko had to go with her (volunteered but still mandatory) and the events of the game still go similarly

(toadbert goes also but this isn’t about him)

the time holes are still technically time holes, but multidimensional as well so they access this world where the bros are from the mushroom kingdom and peach is human

though this peach can be on the timid side, she was raised to be a protector of her people and when initially attacked by the shroobs she rose to the occasion to protect toadiko and toadbert and fight back against the initial invasion

it’s only after she gets eaten by petey piranha that she loses her crown and spends the rest of the game hiding from shroobs

i’m not quite sure when she finds out about the vim fuel thing and what happened to many of the toads in that world but she definitely knows that if the shroobs find out that she’s one of them she’s having the worst game over imaginable so it’s a lot of hide and seek and trying to think of feasible solutions until she recovers the crown and is captured again for the endgame

toadiko and toadbert are recovered but the process of being turned into shroob mushrooms (plus vim draining with toadiko) have them both at less than perfect health that has them (mostly toadiko) both bed bound for some time. as a result, toadiko is forced to retire ✌🏽 a very good time for peach’s guilt overall

re: baby counterparts—everyone is very curious about them and the toadsworths clash isn’t necessarily helped by the obvious difference but they do eventually get along

toad peach is extremely curious about this human peach and wants to meet her adult counterpart, but knowing that world exists does not help her impostor feelings at all 😭

and the bros are kinda left to wonder if they were always supposed to be here in the mushroom kingdom. other trauma too but don’t worry about it

rotating the toad peach au in my mind while prepping for artfight so uhhh anyone want more insight?

[cinnamon-bunni]

Day 4: Overthinking

HEY UHHH DEFINETELY DIDN'T FORGET TO POST THIS YESTERDAY LMAO ANYWAYS HERE HAVE SOME SHORT LUISLEY FLUFF Read it on Ao3! Word count: 1.6k

Peasley did not consider himself to be an overthinker. He was just a careful thinker, was all. He didn’t like the idea of going into something without a plan–though, that idea had been something his mother and advisor repeated time and time again, so it came to him like second nature. Planning out everything helped, especially when the Beanstar ended up being taken by the witch Cackletta and her minion. Yes, having a plan on how to get it back was useful, especially with the Mario Brothers there to help.

In the end, everything had gone according to plan, and everything was fine. Sure, Bowletta was a surprise, as was the brothers fighting what they described was Cackletta’s soul, but the Beanstar was safe, as were the brothers and the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom. A few things had gone astray from the plan, but nevertheless, they had prevailed. And the Mario Brothers had gone home, and Peasley clung onto the hope that maybe he would see Luigi again one day.

Thankfully, they still kept in touch via letters. Peasley at first was unsure if he would even answer, but the plumber seemed excited by the writing to one another.

And Peasley tried his best to not think too hard on his words. To just write genuinely, but also nothing that Luigi would read into. To not overthink every sentence he wrote, or think too hard about everything Luigi wrote. But Grambi, did he love to reread those letters. How he was just able to hear Luigi’s voice while he read them, and how he would just smile at them. He hoped Luigi did the same for his own letters.

Peasley was always so careful with his words. He didn’t want to say the wrong thing, or make Luigi needlessly worry over miscommunication on Peasley’s part. He was just so happy with his relationship that he had, one that was slowly but surely budding in a flower, that Peasley didn’t want to make a single mistake.

“I want to invite him over to the castle.” It was the first time he had said it aloud, the first time he even told another person his plan or thoughts. Princess Daisy of Sarasaland hummed at his words, while politely drank the tea in front of her. While she was originally there to talk about trading between the two kingdoms, Peasley had dragged her away to talk. He doubted that she minded, based on how she was dozing off during the meeting. 

“Really?” she asked. “What brought that up?”

“Well, I’ve been thinking about it for a while now,” he started, “and I can’t just get to know Luigi through letters. It would be more efficient to invite him over–so that we can actually talk to each other, face-to-face.”

Daisy nodded, leaning over to rest her elbows on the table. “So then what’s stopping you? Seems like a perfectly reasonable idea.”

Peasley frowned, and poured himself another cup of tea. “While it is mainly to get to know Luigi better, I also want to ask him if he would be interested in a courtship.”

“Ohhhhhhh.” Daisy gave a slow nod. “Still don’t see what’s stopping you.”

“I-” Peasley never was at a loss for words, and was never not composed. He took a deep breath as he gathered his thoughts. “I do not wish to scare him off. I’ve been planning everything down to the littlest of details, but I keep doubting myself. Everything needs to be perfect, and I fear if even one thing goes wrong, I’ll scare him off.”

“Well that’s the problem,” Daisy said. “I mean, since when did you ever overthink anything? I thought you confidently made plans and charged on?”

“Yes, but this is Luigi we’re talking about.”

“And that makes a difference because…?”

He sighed. “I feel as though if I asked him, he would feel pressured to say yes. Because of my status, he might feel as though he can’t say no to a date.”

Daisy rolled her eyes. “C’mon, can’t you give Weegee a little bit more credit? He’s not some spineless yes-man who won’t stick up for himself. Believe it or not, the man’s willing to stand up for himself from time-to-time.”

“Of course, and I’m not saying that’s the case. Nonetheless, the pressure will still be there because of me being the prince, no matter what I do. And everything needs to be perfect because of it. I can’t let anything go wrong.”

“Jeez, is that it?” In all honesty, it was. He needed everything to be perfect–down to the invite he wrote, the plane ride Luigi would have, where he would stay, and all the activities that were planned. Peasley couldn’t risk messing up, because if he wanted to ask the man out, then Peasley’s plan had to be flawless. Because if it wasn’t, then Luigi would have an unpleasant time in the Beanbean Kingdom, and he wouldn’t want to see him again, nor write any letters, and the two would just have their relationship stay stagnant in a weird limbo where Peasley would be too afraid to reach out.

“Man, Luigi’s got you good, huh?” Daisy laughed to herself. “Didn’t think you fell that hard for him.”

“Daisy…”

“Yeah yeah, I know, serious problem you got on your hands.” She gave a somewhat polite shrug. “I don’t see why you can’t just be you.”

“Are you telling me just to wing this whole thing? To go with no plan?”

“Of course not–maybe something I would do, but that’s not you. All I’m saying is don’t think too hard about it. Just go with what comes naturally, and I’m sure Luigi will be happy. He’s not the hardest man to please, y’know. I’m sure just going out to a park and talking would make him happy, as long as it’s with someone he enjoys being around.”

“Yes…yes, I suppose that you’re right.” Peasley nodded. “Of course! As long as I don’t overthink it, then surely everything will be fine! When hasn’t it?” He laughed, and got up out of his seat. “Thank you Daisy, truly. I shall keep your words in mind.”

“Hey! Where do you think you’re going? We still have to talk about more boring agreements and stuff!”

“Apologies, but I must get going if I want to write that letter. I wish you the best of luck with Lady Lima–she’s one tough cookie to crack!”

“Peasley!” But Peasley was already rushing through the large halls of the castle, weaving his way through bustling guards and staff members. He was quick to enter his bedroom, where a small study resided–a place where he mainly used for his own storage and personal use rather than it’s main purpose, which was paperwork for the kingdom (to which Lady Lima was insisting that he start doing, that he was going to be ruler sooner or later, but Peasley didn’t care much for those duties).

He hurried to find a pen. The sooner he wrote the letter, the sooner he could see Luigi.

~~~

“Thank you again for inviting me here, Peasley.” 

Peasley couldn’t help but beam, while Luigi did a nervous shuffle of his feet. 

“Of course! You are welcomed into this kingdom any time or day my friend–just say the word, and I’ll personally come and pick you up from the airport.”

“Oh! You really don’t have to do that, I-”

“Nonsense!” Peasley interrupted with a smile. “For everything that you have done for me and my kingdom, it’s the least I can do.”

Luigi gave a nervous chuckle, his face a faint pink color. “If you say so. But really, it was no trouble at all. And besides, I would never want to bother you or get in the way of your princely duties.”

Peasley fought off the scoff that built up in his throat. “You could never bother me, Luigi,” he offered, and Luigi turned into a brighter hue. “And with that, may I ask a question?”

“Oh, I–yeah? What is it?”

It was now or never. Too many thoughts had been plaguing Peasley’s thoughts all day; too many what if’s, too many needless worries. He just needed to take a breath, and just ask. Not overthink it and just do it.

“I was wondering if, next to you come to visit, if you would be interested in going on a date instead.” There. It was out in the open now, and for some reason, it sent fear through his heart. It felt like back when the Beanstar had been taken, when the castle and its town was destroyed. Which was dumb, because all he was doing was asking Luigi out, not dealing with a stolen or broken protector of the kingdom. And yet he felt terrified, because he worked so hard on this, and thought through every single thing, and he couldn’t help but think of every single thing that Luigi could possibly say-

“O-oh! Oh, yes, I would love to! I mean, well, next time I’m free, I could come back, or, I suppose you could come to the Mushroom Kingdom if you wanted, but uh–yes! Yes.” Luigi just seemed almost as flustered and nervous as Peasley was by the idea, if not more so.

Peasley stared, and he felt his heart flutter, and then smiled and laughed. He pounced, and gave Luigi a tight hug–a small “oof!” coming from the plumber.

“Wonderful! It’s decided then; next time, we shall go on a date.” He hugged even tighter when he felt the other man return it. His face, he was sure, was just as bright as Luigi’s, but he didn’t care. He even gave a small chuckle to himself, feeling the nerves in him melt away by the plumber’s touch.

Why had he even been worried in the first place?

[coolfire333]

MAJOR deltarune chapter 2 spoilers below the cut!!! 

But here are my thoughts, I didn’t think to type this up as a live-reaction type thing until late in the game so some of this is typed up as I go but most will probably come after I’ve finished

Ok first off, I love the aesthetics of chapter 2 so much!! The first chapter was really good too (I am a sucker for card game aesthetics what can I say) but the music, the enemies, the atmosphere is just so fantastic in part 2.

Toby (and Temmie since I know she does a lot of the spritework and designing) and whoever else was working on this did such an excellent job

I also got stupidly excited over the fact that the original Starwalker joined our inventory and I about died when they started walking behind us. I love the little icon in the menu and it’s really Pissing me off that they couldn’t join the party for real. Original Starwalker appreciation post :)

ALSO unrelated to this area but guys try to go all the way to the bottom of the yellow car traffic puzzle. It’s hard but there is a Funny there, please trust me it’ll be worth it. 

You have to be careful when timing the lights (I think I stopped the red cars before the yellow) and try not to bump into anything so Kris doesn’t lose their speed when trying to get there.

Speaking of dudes who I love, Spamton is absolutely supreme, I seriously cannot get enough of this guy. I didn’t think to start this post until after I fought him so I don’t have any images but his theme music is awesome.  

I don’t care if he’s super sketchy and questionable I’m giving him all my kromer. Going to become a big shot. Also the menu outside the shop isn’t lying his potions really do poison you inside and outside of battle lol

I’m stuck doing his basement puzzle because I have no spatial awareness so I keep dying to the bullets on the teacup ride back up. I’m nervous because this situation is just reminding me of the Jevil fight, I hope whatever secret miniboss comes out of this has a little mercy on me. 

And I don’t fully remember but I think when you first talk to him about the Knight he mentions a “clown,” does he know Jevil? He seems like the kind of character who knows more about things than he should, much like Jevil or Seam. 

Also interesting is the fact that if you go back to the shopkeepers in the city, Kris seems to say something about Spamton to them and they either deny knowing him or say that they refuse to bring his name up ever again. Hm. Someone who’s done a lot more digging into this game can probably make a good theorypost about him but there’s weird stuff here

Also the Queen is so hilarious. God just look at these portraits, they laugh at you when the song in this room gets to the point where the Queen laughs, and I love that detail :)

I hate to make the homestuck comparison but she reminds me of a cross between Kanaya and Roxy and knowing Toby’s homestuck background I do wonder about that. Also more nice comparison to superstar saga but her theme song kinda gives me Cackletta vibes. She is great :)

Also I thought that maybe based on her design that she was supposed to be Lancer’s mom, like the Spade Queen or something, but Lancer didn’t make any comments to suggest that? It does make me wonder where the remaining queens and jacks are, if there are any. 

We see the rest of the kings locked in the basement of the palace (later in Ralsei’s house too), and when looking at Lancer in the overworld inventory it says he’s the jack of spades, so do the other kings have sons? Are there queens too? I’m really curious about this.

Later addition #1: Spamton neo battle?????? He can turn your soul yellow!! New soul mechanics holy crap :0

His earlier theme also reminded me of the songs in undertale associated with the ghosts/dummies, the fact that he has even more callbacks to Mettaton in his later battle is very interesting. This song really reminds of “Ghost Fight” from undertale too. ALSO I can hear the same melody from “The World Revolving” in one section of this song too........REALLY interesting.

Same line as in the Jevil battle too....hmmm :/

Also what is “the power of NEO”? Second time this has been mentioned in the ut/dr series, and iirc Mettaton neo only shows up in a no mercy run? Really really odd stuff happening here

And this is a new game over screen than the usual chapter 2 one! It also says “Please, don’t give up!” after this. I didn’t recognize the text’s voice either...and I feel like the music is slightly different? Not totally sure. If anyone else has thoughts on this let me know. I’m probably gonna be seeing this screen a lot though, Spamton’s hard lol but I still think he’s really cool

OH and after dying a lot (idk how many times lol) it says “Come on, that all you got!? Kris, get up...!” hm, still unsure who this voice is...maybe Ralsei? It’s high pitched but I’m not fully sure it’s high enough to be him speaking

Later addition #2: God that battle was unsettling. “Spamton begs to the audience. Spamton prays to the audience.” is such a haunting line. And the ending...man. Really creeps me out. 

I have the dealmaker glasses now though so that’s pretty sweet. I wore the mannequin with Kris thinking it might do something in battle with him but I still have no idea what it does unless the effect was really subtle. If someone knows what the mannequin does I’d love to hear it. Also I hope we get to see the optional bosses again, I really like Spamton and Jevil...bring them back :(

Later addition #3: WOAH ok sounds like Spamton was making weird deals with Gaster?? Maybe Jevil was too, Spamton does mention a “clown” in his neo fight and he seems pretty upset with the notion that he is a “clown” so maybe Gaster is the one making all sorts of weird alliances with the secret bosses?

Anyway, all the shopkeepers left to gather outside Spamton’s shop in the trash dump and they’re all talking about him, it’s actually sad to hear his backstory...but the last one mentions a phone in Spamton’s room being left off the hook, and when they listened to whoever was on the other end they say “There was nothing but garbage noise.” which is similar to the “It’s nothing but garbage noise.” text that shows up when you try using the phone in the dark world. HMMMMM. 

Later addition #4: 

ROUXLS KAARD!!!!

Also idk if I fully trust Ralsei (we don’t know much about him at all and when chapter 1 came out I read an analysis of him that compared him a lot to early-game Flowey so I’m suspicious of his kindness) but this boat ride was sweet.

Does Ralsei have a little crush on Kris?? I might have been reading into it too much, I’m bad at seeing this kind of thing so idk maybe he just wants to be their friend and feels all sweetly about that but he was very much complimenting Kris a lot and blushing a ton on this boat ride lol

OH MY GOD YES IT’S THE MACHINE TO THRASH MY OWN ASS (almost forgot I made it bi pride edition LOL)

Also actual RK battle heck yeah!!!!

Later addition #5: Berdly has a crush on Susie. Oh my god. I guess that’s kinda cute that he likes her since she was actually genuinely nice to him but oh my god no. I will say that even though I didn’t like Berdly at first, his speech about being the “smart kid” was very emotionally resonant, I really feel for him and Noelle, and he seems like he’s got a good heart. But dude maybe don’t go after Susie (and maybe talk a little less too haha)

Later addition #6:

DUDE this battle music!! This was a really cool battle omg

Ralsei is starting to concern me, idk I’m still kinda suspicious of whatever is going on

Later addition #7: I love how the town now looks omg

They’re all back!!! I love the music vendors :)

Later addition #8: Um so I got to the ending of chapter 2. Hm. I have to think about this for a while. 

But I really enjoyed this game!!! I might boot up another save file so I can fool around with it more, but this was such a blast! :)

[anomander-dragnipurake]

Bowser’s Castle Chapter One: Anger

First off, this fic is an alternate path for Possessed, breaking off from it at the end of part one. Second, the reason it exists: Bowuigi is my OTP for this fandom. So while playing Superstar Saga for the first time, when I reached the part where Cackletta possesses Bowser, which happened around the time I started working on part 2 of Possessed, I naturally made the connection that Bowletta and Booigi are very similar in nature. My next thought was that after that experience perhaps Bowser would be disgusted by the idea of possession and thus wish to do something about King Boo possessing Luigi which was the sole thought that ultimately led to this fic. And I know It's implied at the end that Bowser doesn't remember anything that happened to him while Cackletta was controlling and that he doesn't even know that that's what happened but that's less fun so we're just going to ignore that for the sake of the fic.

~

Luigi’s car was still where King Boo had parked it, making it easy to circle round to it and find. Where to now? Luigi asked with a mental sigh as King Boo hopped in.

‘Uh…’ King Boo paused, holding Luigi’s hand on the ignition. ‘I don’t actually know. I didn’t think this idea would work so I didn’t plan for anything beyond this point. … You don’t have any more friends, do you?’

No. Unlike Mario he’d never been good at making friends. And the few friends he’d met in adventures, he’d never had the courage to try to keep in contact with them.

King Boo laughed. ‘You’re so pathetic, it’s funny.’

Luigi already knew he was pathetic; he knew it better than anyone. There was nothing funny about it though; he hated it even while lacking the willpower to change it.

‘Whatever though. I can think of at least one more person who should have a fun reaction to this situation.’

Who? Out of decency most people would dislike this situation but Luigi couldn’t think of anyone else who’d have a ‘fun reaction’.

King Boo didn’t reply as he started the car at last. Apparently, Luigi would just have to wait and see.

***

“Lord Bowser sir, King Boo’s here to see you,” the goomba said as they poked their head into the room. “He’s possessing an uh… ‘meatsuit’ as he calls it and he says he wants to talk to you. He’s waiting for you in the throne room.” Message delivered, they fled, as most goombas tended to do for fear of getting yelled at for delivering unwanted news, and thus no clarifying questions could be asked.

“King Boo’s the one who beat Mario up, right?” Bowser Jr. said before Bowser could even decide if he wanted to bother with trying to call the goomba back for more questions.

From the way Bowser had heard it, ‘beating up Mario’ wasn’t quite what King Boo had done. It was close enough though so… “Yeah, supposedly three times.” And Bowser was jealous about it but he wasn’t about to show that in front of his son.

Looking back down at the kitten still carefully cradled in his hands – Bowser had been teaching him the proper way to handle them – Junior gave her another little pet. “Maybe that’s what he wants to talk to you about. If you two teamed up, you’d be unstoppable, right? You could take over the whole Mushroom Kingdom and more.”

“Maybe, I don’t know.” And it that was it, would Bowser go with that idea? On one hand it would be a guaranteed victory against Mario but on the other it would mean working with King Boo.

“Let’s go see then. I want meet him.” With exaggerated care, Junior gently placed the kitten back on the cat bed with her siblings and mama before hopping up and rushing out of the room. He didn’t even bother to close the door behind him.

With a sigh, Bowser rose to his feet too. He’d have preferred to ignore King Boo until he left but it probably wouldn’t have worked anyway. Might as well go see what he wanted to hopefully get rid of him fairly quickly.

Moving far slower than Junior meant Junior reached the throne room well before Bowser did. Upon approaching it, Bowser could hear his chatter from halfway down the hall.

“… still in there? Or is he like gone now?”

King Boo’s reply was spoken much softer, rendering it indecipherable. Which was odd all by itself but his voice didn’t sound as high pitched as it should.

“Isn’t that going a bit far then? Like… it’s kind of super creepy to think about even if he is one of the bad guys.”

Bowser reached the throne room. Junior had perched himself on the arm of the throne so that he would thoroughly tower over the fellow that stood at the bottom of the throne’s dais who was decidedly not King Boo because he was human.

“His suffering is the whole point though,” the fellow said. He then turned his grin towards Bowser. “Hey Bowser, it’s been while, huh?”

"Who are you?" He was familiar but Bowser couldn’t place where he’d seen him before.

“You really don’t recognize me? I guess that’s to be expected though. It’s a-me King Boo.” He laughed, very boo-like but also very not. “And guess what I’ve done.”

Bowser’s scowl deepened to hind his confusion because why and how was King Boo suddenly human and why did Bowser recognize him? “What?”

“I’ve thoroughly defeated the Mario bros, so much so, they had me captured in a cell but Mario let me go almost right away. Not that he could’ve kept me locked up for long anyway but that’s beside the point. I’ve utterly defeated them, something you’ve failed to do time and time again.”

With an angry growl, Bowser strode all the way over to grab King Boo by the neck to lift him to face height. “How?” He was clearly missing something here and he didn’t like it. He also didn’t like King Boo’s new form or him coming here to gloat about defeating Bowser’s enemy.

“Even as stupid as you are, I’m sure you’ve noticed by now that this body of mine is familiar.” He seemed totally unphased by Bowser’s manhandling. “That’s because it’s Luigi’s, Mario’s brother, I possessed him and am now using him as a meatsuit.”

Bowser’s initial flash of rage at being called ‘stupid’ was immediately replaced by revulsion. Possession and his body being controlled by another being was something he had personal experience with and honestly it was probably the worst thing that had ever happened him, he still had nightmares about it sometimes. So this disgusted him on a personal level.

“Stop it,” he said, squeezing King Boo’s neck a little harder.

“Stop what?”

“Possessing him!”

Another boo-like laugh that sounded creepily strange coming from a voice that wasn’t a boo’s. “You disapprove, really? And here I was thinking you’d just be jealous over how thoroughly I beat the Mario bros when you never could.”

“It’s disgusting so stop it.” Bowser breathed a puff of smoke in his face.

“Nope! And there’s nothing you can do to make me stop. Unless you want to kill Luigi, I guess. It would be a disappointedly quick end to my game but go ahead if…”

Bowser growled and headbutted him as hard enough to make his own head hurt a little. King Boo made another small laugh that faded out as he went limp, his eyes sliding shut.

“Uh… Papa, did you just knock him out?”

Bowser turned to face Junior, still standing on the throne’s armrest. “This is disgusting.” He gestured with the limp body. Junior hadn’t been there for the incident with Cackletta so he probably didn’t get why Bowser was so enraged by this. He didn’t have time to explain right now though because he had to deal with it.

“KAMEK!” He stamped his foot hard enough to shake the whole room a little.

It was maybe a grand total of five seconds before little old Kamek was rushing into the room.  “Yes, Lord Bowser?” he said, wheezing a little from the run over.

“Take care of this,” he said, pushing the now not so green fellow towards Kamek.

“Um… may I ask what this is? And what exactly you’d like me to do with it.”

Bowser groaned but thankfully, Junior, hopped down from his perch to explain the situation better and faster than Bowser probably ever could. He was a smart kid.

“Okay so uh… you want me to get King Boo out of him?” Kamek asked when the explanation was finished.

“Yes!” Bowser thrust the body towards him again.

“Sir, I don’t intend to be contrarian but this is King Boo we’re talking about here, I’m not sure if I can…”

“Just do it!” Bowser stomped his foot again. This was his castle; things were done his way here. If he wanted King Boo forced out of Greenie’s body, then Kamek was going to find a way to do it whether he liked it or not.

“Yes sir.”  Kamek saluted before gesturing a couple shyguys over to take the body from Bowser to carry away presumably to his lab.

“Does this mean we’re going to be at war with King Boo’s kingdom now?” Junior asked after all the minions had filed away and it was just the two of them again.

“I don’t know and I don’t care.” It would probably be awkward if that did happen because some of his minions were boos, asking them to fight their own kind was bound to cause issues. Also, how did one wage war against ghosts? Yeah sure, sometimes boos could be defeated by physical force, but normal ghost certainly couldn’t be. But those were only potential future problems and thus he wasn’t going to worry about how to deal with them until they came to pass. For now, he was angry and wanted to punch something until it broke into a million pieces.

[dragonkeeper19600]

Someone on this site (I don’t remember who) pointed out how little screen time Fawful shares with Mario and Luigi in Bowser’s Inside Story. For most of the game, Bowser is Fawful’s main nemesis, with the Mario Bros. working behind the scenes. There are only two scenes where the Bros. and Fawful encounter each other: the scene in the sewer where Fawful grabs the Dark Star and the very final boss. At all other times, the Bros. are either inside Bowser (giggity!) or in a location without either Fawful or Bowser. At first, it seems kind of weird how the main villain of a Mario game barely sees Mario, even when taking into account Bowser’s prominent role as a protagonist. But, when I gave it some thought, I realized it wasn’t weird at all. It was all according to design. That is Fawful’s design because all through the game he's deliberately going out of his way to avoid the Mario Bros. 

A huge part of what makes Fawful so dangerous is his intelligence, and I don’t mean just the technical genius that allows him to build vacuum helmets and laser-shooting robots. I’m referring to his cunning. He’s able to spot the counterfeit Beanstar right away in Superstar Saga, he comes up with the plan to have Bowletta impersonate Bowser in Minion Quest, a gambit that succeeds in getting Captain Goomba to shift his focus from Fawful to Mario, and he came up with a pretty effective Plan B in case Bower survived the cage match with Midbus. This careful planning makes him a direct foil to Bowser, who always (always!) charges headfirst without a plan, relying solely on the strength of his own awesomeness. Bowser never learns from his mistakes, but Fawful does. He was introduced as Cackletta’s apprentice, and even after her death he is ever the vigilant student, using his experience to avoid old failings.

And one thing his experience has taught him is that he cannot beat Mario and Luigi.

He fought them twice in Superstar Saga, the second time much more heavily armed than the first, and was beaten so badly that Partners in Time implies that he’s traumatized from the experience. When the babies encounter Fawful in the sewers, he’s clearly obsessed with the Mario Bros., flying into a frothing-mouth rage at the mere memory of their clothing.

He also uses mustache-related metaphors even when not directly referencing the Bros., including one point before the babies ask for his backstory, meaning that Mario and Luigi are always on his mind.

The Mario Bros. left a deep impression on Fawful, specifically several on his skull and all over his body. When he returns in Bowser’s Inside Story, he is no longer concerned with conquering his home country and is instead fixated on the Mushroom Kingdom. Perhaps he’s motivated by revenge? Either way, he knows he’ll never be able to hold onto his power without dealing with Mario and Luigi.

But, Fawful has a problem. He’s a wimp.

Armed with only his vacuum helmet, Fawful is so weak that he’s fought during the tutorial stage of Superstar Saga. When he speaks of his previous defeat in Partners in Time, he uses a lot of pain-based imagery “jumping on my head,” “hammers,” “my brain aches,” “headache,” etc. Bowser’s description of Fawful as a “little babbling nerd” may be harsh, but there’s some truth to the fact that Fawful is tiny, out of shape, and not used to physical strain. The Mario Bros. dished out one hell of a beating, and he is not eager to experience that again.

I usually hear Fawful’s Vacuum Shroom scheme explained as an attempt to cut off the head of the Mushroom Kingdom’s government in one fell swoop by containing them all within Bowser. While I do think there is some truth to that, I would argue that his primary targets in that plan are the Bros. 

Fawful knows he cannot beat the Bros. With Mario and Luigi contained inside Bowser, his biggest threat is removed. Bowser, of course, is still free, and Fawful makes no real effort to contain him once the Bros. have been inhaled. But, at the beginning of the game, Fawful doesn’t view Bowser to be much of a threat. His own experiences with Bowser in Superstar Saga had convinced him that Bowser is a bit of a pushover. At the beginning of that game, Fawful lays Bowser low with a single shot from his vacuum helmet. And, when Fawful comes across Bowser much later, he’s already unconscious.

Unlike with the Mario Bros., Fawful had no reason to fear Bowser. He’d learned that Bowser was dumb, weak, and easily dealt with. It’s quite a nasty surprise when Bowser rises again and again to throw off Fawful’s schemes. 

But even now, when Bowser has risen as the biggest threat to Fawful’s new world order, who does he still think of?

After all this time, the Mario Bros. still weigh heavily on his mind. Does he suspect that Bowser’s newfound strength is because of their meddling? Perhaps. The remake of the Dark Star Core phase of the final boss added animation of Fawful pointing at the Bros. before transforming to his titanic size.

After being reduced down to the Dark Star Core, Fawful’s mind seems to be in a simplified state. His only dialogue is to repeat his catchphrase in a confused tone before scurrying away, and during the final boss fight, he doesn’t speak at all. But even with his mind in a fog, he still recognizes the Mario Bros. He revels in sadistic glee when toying with them by tossing them into the air or chasing them down a dark, evil corridor with his gleaming teeth like a demonic Pac-Man. Even that point at the beginning at the fight is multilayered. Is that an “Ah ha!” point identifying the cause of all the trouble Bowser has been causing? Or is it a sadistic taunt? “Now, you’ll see who’s tough!”

Fawful is fully aware of his own physical weakness, the weakness that led to his painful defeat and may have cost him his mistress’s life. Was his obsession with absorbing the Dark Star into himself an attempt to finally make himself stronger? To no longer be the little nerd? To finally be someone the Mario Bros. couldn’t hurt?

In any case, it didn’t work.

Fawful feared Mario and Luigi. He did everything he could to get them out of the way without having to face them. He trapped them inside Bowser, and when he saw them underground, as soon as he’d grabbed the Dark Star, he shot at them and quickly fled behind a magical barrier made of thirteen impenetrable walls (I counted). Once he’d absorbed the Dark Star, he thought he was finally strong enough to beat them. 

But when the Dark Star was gone, and his mind cleared, he’d found that he’d lost everything, and the Bros. stood triumphant yet again. He would never, ever win.

I guess, when we take all that into consideration, it should be no surprise what he did next. 

[puppyluver256]

[Image Description: A stocky Beanish (plant-people from the Mario and Luigi games) person with lime green skin, red hair in a short mullet-esque style, and crazed magenta eyes with heavy dark areas underneath. They are wearing a purple short sleeved jacket with magenta lining, a magenta shirt with dark blue designs resembling ribs, dark blue pants, and dark blue shoes. They are holding a comically oversized magenta and lime green hammer with large metal spikes and a black handle over their shoulder and pointing at themself with their thumb and grinning with sharp teeth. The background is a repeated pattern of magenta and lime green diamonds. End ID.]

-----

And my final Art Fight attack, this time featuring Frax! Love this design, they've got the perfect amount of zany eccentricity to their look for someone who works with Cackletta as well as being a nice contrast to the more slim-and-tall and smol-and-round looks of her and Fawful what with their more bulky shape :D

And with that, I'm all Art Fought out. It was a fun one this year, and I hope y'all had fun too and that we'll have fun again next year :3

~No promo links for good sportsmanship, show some love to all the artists of Art Fight!~

Beanish people and other Mario and Luigi concepts © Nintendo Frax © @graveyardzhift (who I apparently can’t tag but their blog title says they’re mostly inactive here so maybe that’s not too big a deal ^^; ) Artwork © PuppyLuver Studios

[fountainpenguin]

Question Meme: (Ignore this if you don't want to answer all these....) 1, 2, 3, 28, 31, 33, 40 (sorry i couldn't pick one)

40 Questions For ‘Fic Writers Meme

#1 - Describe your comfort zone—a typical you-fic.

Gradual character development spread across a piece with deepened, believable worldbuilding. You know, I often say I’m not into romance, but here’s the thing: A nice long, serious slow burn does a person good. I’ll happily accept romance if an author can really get me into the minds of the characters and make me want their relationship to develop as much as the characters do.

It’s shallow romance that rubs me the wrong way. Give me two characters who honestly, truly care about each other to the point where they’ll sacrifice something they love, or even be willing to let each other ago if it means the one they love will be happy. I love that. But if you’ve got one character who will pitch a fit rather than let their love be happy with someone else, you’re really working uphill with me.

Worldbuilding doesn’t have to be as deep and complex as my ‘fics tend to get, but I do love to see how different authors expand the same world in different ways. I’m not a big fan of horror and for some reason I just can’t get into sci-fi. I enjoy fantasy and biology.

Really, I love anything that doesn’t contradict canon. AUs? Eh, sometimes, but they’re not my favorite. I like behind-the-scenes, between-the-lines, believable futures, and backstory pieces with some nice worldbuilding. And some complex characters who don’t always make the best choices and then have to suffer the consequences for their actions. Yes. ‘Fics like those are very nice.

#2 - Is there a trope you’ve yet to try your hand at, but really want to?

A queerplatonic relationship that’s happy, healthy, and long-lasting. You would think I would let my aro/ace children be happy, but alas, ‘tis not to be! You could say I like to squash zucchinis. I am self-projecting my own insecurities. I made Bennett a horrible person to show the “worst possible relationship with an aro/ace who wants a sexless marriage” so that the hopes and dreams of the other aro/ace characters look more reasonable by comparison. I do that a lot.

Okay, I lied. I can think of six “official” queerplatonic relationships we will see in my FOP works, and one of them actually does have a happy ending. I mean, probably. I haven’t written it yet, so who knows?

Spoiler alert: Mario and Peach are the OTQP and I’m going to milk it. What can I say? I call ‘em like I see ‘em and canon literally gave us a plumber who’ll collect 120 Power Stars in return for cake, and a princess who turned down his hand in marriage after all the times he’s rescued her, but adores him anyway.

#3 - Is there a trope you wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole?

“We pretend to hate each other but secretly we’re both in love and will one day in the heat of the moment spontaneously confess our romantic feelings and form a mutual, caring relationship without any further character development.”

I don’t know if it’s because I’m a very serious, honest, straightforward person (being INTJ and all), or if it’s because I’m asexual, or if it’s a combination of both (or neither), but I can’t stand huge plots about people refusing to admit that they like someone. Love has always been a logical thing to me. I was sixteen before I found out sexual attraction was a real thing. I don’t really understand it, but I guess it’s possible to have physical feelings for someone even if you don’t logically want to? And you can’t stop yourself or turn it off? I honestly don’t know how that works, which is why the “I wish I wasn’t physically attracted to you�� trope has infuriated me since childhood. I just didn’t get it.

Even before I realized I was asexual, I would have discussions with my mom about how if I ever had a crush, I would openly admit this to my friends if they asked. I wouldn’t protest or deny, as I see so many media characters do. Then it turned out I’m incapable of feeling physical attraction and I get friendship squishes instead of romantic crushes, so that happened.

As a general rule of thumb, you should trust the characters I write if they say they aren’t attracted to someone. If they like someone, they’ll tell you so. If they don’t, they’ll tell you that too. And if they’re confused, then it will be very clear that they’re confused. No means no. I’m very strict about that. Don’t read into it looking for signs that they’re being secretive even to the reader. They are not. I emotionally cannot bring myself to do that.

#28 - Share three of your favorite fic writers and why you like them so much.

Oooh. I’m going to say that Shaddic takes the cake on this one. If you’re a Total Drama fan, or even if you’re not, then “Daddy’s Characters” will break you deliciously like very few fanfics will. “Before and After” is just a step behind it. The emotion captured by these ‘fics is incredible, and I highly, highly recommend them if you’re into evil villains who are undeniably and yet realistically cruel. Both ‘fics revolve around Mike and his multiple personalities (“Daddy’s Characters” revolving around adult Mike and Zoey, married with a daughter and with twins on the way, coping with something horrid that lands a distraught Mike in prison, and “Before and After” being the trauma-filled childhood backstory ‘fic). 

Shaddic characterized everyone perfectly. So horribly, painfully well. Ugggh, I love it. My gallery has Identity Theft on the way, which will revolve around Foop and Hiccup and some multiple personality trauma, but it won’t be as beautiful as Shaddic’s work. They’re honestly worth a read if you ever have the time one day, even if you aren’t a Total Drama fan. You really don’t need to know the show to enjoy them. And enjoy them (and suffer) you will. In all my years, I’ve never seen an evil villain portrayed so… villainously. Love it.

I’m also a fan of SelanPike- partially for sentimental reasons, I suppose. I remember reading her Mario ‘fics over and over eight years ago, and I still read them today on a regular basis. Crazy how time flies. They’re just ones that I love going back to. As most of you know, I tend to fall in love with background characters. Fawful, Kamek, and Doopliss fit those qualifications- and coincidentally, those three are Selan’s favorites too! Technically, it’s because of her that the 130 Prompts project came to be. I always loved her 100 one-shot challenge, and that’s sort of how I eventually decided to write my own.

I really admire Selan for her characterizations. Her Kamek portrayal is my all-time favorite. So is her Fawful, her Doopliss, her Bowser, her Bowser Jr, her E. Gadd… she’s just a master of character. Even her freaking Jojora is spot-on. I mean, talk about background characters, am I right? Ha. Her writing is excellent and she has some fun plots. I always enjoyed drinking up her fanart and reading her comics on her deviantArt too. Still do. She has such a fun, bouncy art style. Her 8-page comic about Fawful attending school in the Mushroom Kingdom after Kamek hits him with the truant officer threat gets me every time.

I highly recommend “Until Tomorrow” (Her post-“Superstar Saga” ‘fic about Kamek and Fawful attempting to revive Cackletta so Kamek can kick her butt in a magic fight and Fawful can get the mother figure he refuses to call his mother figure back), and her famous ‘fic “On My Own” (about Fawful coping with Cackletta’s death and eventually working his way up the Koopa Kingdom social ladder). “Fragmented Spectrum” is a wonderful, tense, horror-ish ‘fic as well, with my absolute favorite Bowser Jr. portrayal. Plus, I love the rivalry between Kamek and Fawful seen in “F.S.” with Fawful trying to draw magic circles that he decided must be 100% perfect to count as circles, and Kamek not even knowing how to deal with him and his technology brain. Beautiful. 

Check out the rest of her gallery too. Her two FFN fandoms are Mario and Invader Zim. She isn’t active there anymore, but her ‘fics are worth the read. I will say that I’m not a fan of her ‘fic “Everything You Ever” because I feel that Cackletta was way too sweet and nice for an evil villain in that one. But then again, I haven’t read it in years, so who knows. I’m not crazy about Selan’s Peach portrayal either, but that’s where my third recommendation comes in.

GuardianM1234 is a recent discovery of mine, and she does not disappoint. I’m a big fan of her ongoing ‘fic “Smoke” (which updates twice a month right now and is nearing its climax). It’s basically the story of Peach and Bowser growing up, and the development of their relationship from being fairly friendly as children to their complex relationship as adults. I’ve never seen Peach portrayed so perfectly, and I adore her. Never thought I would, but I do. Guardian also has a very unique take on Mario that’ll really make you squirm.

I love Guardian’s writing because she pits characters in emotionally-difficult situations and lets them learn and grow. They make bad choices, but she demonizes no one. Not even Bowser. Plus, Bowser has a little sideplot with Clawdia going on (the canon mother of the Koopalings if you know your deep hidden lore, though since the Koopalings were recently ruled “not Bowser’s children” by Nintendo’s “official” canon, I don’t know if she will be their mother in “Smoke” or where Guardian is taking this ‘fic). Basically, what I’m saying is, Clawdia and Bowser roastfest. Be there. They crack me up. And Guardian’s TOADSWORTH is perfection. Please give that old boy his gossip.

Plus, Daisy takes Bowser shopping for wedding dresses once and he bribes her with a six-pack of soda. Nice, short chapters with a few pleasant hints of worldbuilding slipped in, and a LOT of character. Guardian is still somewhat new to fanfiction, but she’s very sweet and she would adore some reviews if you do read her work. If you love her stuff, give her a shout-out! She’s great.

#31 - Do you take liberties with canon or are you very strict about your fic being canon compliant?

I fall halfway between this one. The answer is, sort of both! For my main fandoms, I have one rule: I don’t contradict canon, unless canon contradicted itself and I was forced to pick a side. Origin gets so deep into biology and Knots into culture that they feel more like original works than fanfics sometimes, because I’ll flesh things out as much as I want to. So that’s sort of a liberty I take with canon. But I never contradict canon if I don’t have to. I always comply.

It’s a puzzle. I love connecting dots behind the scenes. I love forcing everything that’s canon to be canon, even if it looks like it contradicted itself. If I can solve a plot hole, I try to. I will make ridiculous backbends to fit colorful Anti-Fairy eyes, Crocker’s ebb and flow of wealth, Miss Idaho’s “rare genetic condition that prevents her from aging,” Mary Alice Doombringer’s random abilities, and Girlfriend the cat’s sentience into Riddleverse canon, and I’ll love every second of it. I only cut a piece of canon out if I feel like I absolutely have to. It’s fun.

I can definitely enjoy reading ‘fics that stray from canon, and might even write them on occasion. But the reason why I write fanfics is because I loved the canon and I want to see it expanded, not taken away. I’d like to publish my original works someday, so if I’m not sticking close to source material, why would I write a fanfic that I could publish as an original work instead? 

For the same reasons, I’d rather read a fanfic that expands on canon than eliminates it. When I fall in love with something, I fall in love with its world. I like ‘fics that blend worldbuilding aspects in with the plot they’re writing, even if it’s a short one-shot. I don’t love reading something that feels like its writer just inserted the names of popular characters into their otherwise original work so that people would read it. I want to have the little details and feel convinced that these are the characters (and the world) that I love. Personal preference.

In some cases, I default to realism over canon, such as by giving Cosmo the ability to recognize faces. In my psychology classes, I’ve learned that sometimes during investigations, police will show pictures to people and ask them to select the face that matches the one they were shown earlier. People pretending to be mentally handicapped in some way will often get the answers wrong on purpose in an attempt to maintain their facade, while those who are actually mentally handicapped will get them right. Just a nitpicky thing I do.

So I often favor realism over canon in certain ways, even if it possibly contradicts canon a bit. I respect canon and try to stay true to it as much as possible because I enjoy doing so, but I don’t consider myself 100% beholden to it, especially considering how many different contributors there can be to a project over the years. I do my best, but enjoying what I write comes first.

#33 - How do you feel about crack?

I can enjoy the occasional way-out-there thing, but I prefer serious stories in general.

#40 - Write an alternative ending to [insert fic title] (or just the summary of one).

Well, you didn’t give me a ‘fic you wanted to see an alternate ending to, but I do have a few short pieces I can share. You see, the “That Was Then” Prompt (the Jay Rhoswen and his studies about Anti-Fairies one) wasn’t supposed to end the way it did. Here is how it was meant to go:

Rhoswen scooted back hand over hand along the counter, his feet skittering in the vapor. What in the name of dust was he doing? He shouldn’t be looking at his wife’s counterpart more than at his wife! He shouldn’t be having these sorts of thoughts at all!

Anti-Shylinda placed her palms to his cheeks and gazed into his eyes. “No talk,” she whispered, and when she leaned forward, those burning lips closed over his.

As for whether that Seelie Courter chose to kiss the anti-fairy back once she’d started to draw away? Well… You ought to look to the term “Rhoswen syndrome” to answer that.

I didn’t like the idea of Anti-Shylinda being the one to make moves on Jay, so I scrapped it. Not only that, but the whole piece is written as snippets from Rhoswen’s journal now, so the voice here no longer fit the narrative.

At the end of the first chapter of Frayed Knots, “String Theory”, Anti-Cosmo cuts off the tips of his ears. I was originally going to expand the scene as follows:

Blood spattered the floor. With a hiss through my teeth, I withdrew the knife and dabbed the blood up with my sleeve. The stone might stain.

Recalculating, I dragged my stool over to the sink. The angle was awkward, but at least my blood would wash easily away. There, I slit off the tip of my ear, cutting carefully around my first canetis ring. Then I mirrored the action on the other side. Both rings bounced across the stone with a clink, click, clatter.

I uncurled my tongue and set the knife aside. Then I took the severed tips of my ears and held them to my head again. It took three agonizing minutes, but the smoke that filled my veins stretched out and wound around my fingers. It absorbed my ears and pressed them into place again. Full, soft, and whole. I fingered the gashes mother’s piercing clamp had left behind. Apparently, even regeneration couldn’t heal injuries left by an unenchanted tool. Useful information to know.

The canetis rings disappeared into my pocket. Then I got up and pushed open the window. I took a running start, dove out, and unfurled my wings.

However, I kind of liked leaving the chapter on the cliffhanger of “Oh my gosh, what did he just do to himself???” I also couldn’t include a sink in the castle in a time period when there is no indoor plumbing. Then I decided that I would rather give Anti-Cosmo permanent gashes in his ears he had caused himself, rather than ones caused by his mother, to always remind him (and everyone around him) of that day he stood against Anti-Fairy tradition. Kind of a shame to delete the scene since I like how it gave us information about smoke and Anti-Fairy healing right from the start. I might recycle it later.

Actually, if we’re talking about the original version of Knots, everything was supposed to be different than what it was. Here is another deleted scene that was originally planned to be the opening scene of Knots:

“Mum, I’m nine and a half minutes old. I’m not a baby anymore. Come on, please? You let Anti-Robin leave home to get his wand when he was only three!”

“You weren’t even born yet. How can you possibly know that?”

“He told me about thirty seconds ago, right before you came in here.” I grabbed my mother’s skirt in two tiny fists. “Mum, I’m going to be the only pup in the colony without a wand. What about our image?”

She wavered visibly, running her thumb along her staff. “Well…”

Father peered over his spectacles and frowned. “Now, wait just a minute here, Anti-Florensa. He’s just a pup. You can’t send him into the woods to gather the materials for his first wand all by himself.”

“But it has always been our family’s tradition,” she sniffed. “It’s not as though he’ll die. On the contrary, I’m more concerned about him killing valuable plants with his acid. Anti-Cosmo, you’re drooling again.”

I wiped my mouth. “Sorry, Mum.”

I really loved the “I’m nine and a half minutes old- I’m not a baby anymore!” idea, especially since there aren’t many times when you’ll have the chance to use it. As you can see, Frayed Knots was going to begin with baby Anti-Cosmo leaving his manor home alone to obtain his first wand. 

But overall, in the end, I decided that it was more important to show the importance of smoke in Anti-Fairy culture, and we ended up with the scene we have now. Also, I really wanted Anti-Cosmo to grow up never knowing who his father was until several years after Anti-Robin had died, which meant I had to scrap or replace this scene in some way anyway.

The “Mama’s Boy” Prompt was actually written with the manor idea in mind, and I believe Anti-Florensa even uses the word “manor” in it. I added an author’s note to that piece several months ago mentioning that “Mama’s Boy” is semi-canon for now until Frayed Knots is finalized. A lot has changed.

Some other deleted scenes from the early plans of “Anti-Cosmo lives with his family in a manor near the Castle, and they are nobles but not royalty” include:

“I got something for you, kiddo.” Anti-Robin flicked an aluminum medal across the table that read #2 Son. I grinned.

“This is for me? Thanks! I love it!”

He tilted down his glasses. “You say, ‘Thank you, Father, for this generous gift.’”

I repeated the words, and he tousled my hair. “Now, go do second son things.”

“Yes, sir! I will! Thank you, Father!” With the medal swinging from my neck, I trotted happily off.

and

I clung to the frame of his office door, beating my wings to keep myself from staggering forward. I knew better than to cross the threshold, even though there was nothing I wanted more in the universe right then than to throw my arms around his waist and squeeze him in a hug. The bruise Mother had left on my arm hurt even more now than it did in the kitchen, somehow. My eyes slid back and forth across his desk.

“Where are you going?”

Anti-Robin calmly placed another folded shirt inside the suitcase. “Back to Anti-Scarlett’s.”

“With your other family?” I asked. “With her kids, Anti-Xavier and Anti-Tom?”

“Yes.”

“Why can’t I come with you? I want to meet them.”

“It’s a dad thing.” He closed the suitcase with two clicks and turned around. His eyes were steely calm, his frown very firm. “You’ll understand when you’re older.”

and

“ELEANOR!”

Anti-Robin and I grabbed our mouths and looked at each other, gaping with our eyes. Mother was over 150,000 years old. Her real name wasn’t supposed to be said out loud.

Father slammed a newspaper on the table, then stepped back and crossed his arms. “Might I inquire what the meaning of this is, ‘dear’?”

“Whatever do you mean?” she asked, not looking up from the end of her staff. She studied its base, then ran her polish rag across it again.

“Anti-Bryndin had the green fairy locked up, and I know you’re behind it.”

So, don’t feel too sad that Anti-Cosmo grows up without a dad in my works! It wouldn’t have been the best relationship anyway. Besides that, now that I’ve had time to think about it, this Anti-Robin portrayal isn’t that far off Ambrosine, and I’d rather H.P. and Anti-Cosmo had fathers with very different personalities.

If you have a really sharp memory, you may possibly remember seeing that medal around Anti-Cosmo’s neck when I drew my late-night FOP/Moana doodle dump that one time.

I also have oodles of scenes deleted from Anti-Cosmo’s visit to Winkleglint’s estate, since originally Scarletfeather was supposed to show up and Anti-Cosmo panicked when he couldn’t stop Scarletfeather from luring Mr. Thimble away. I could have filled another entire chapter with what happened during that study abroad week, but in the end I decided they were mostly self-indulgent and not important enough in the grand scheme of things to justify leaving in.

I’m skimming through my files of deleted scenes and I forgot I had this one too. Anti-Cosmo wasn’t supposed to have his intelligence test proctored by Ambrosine originally, as I was going to send him to this mental hospital facility. I decided against it, but here is a terrifying scene that we almost got. So, it’s technically an alternative ending too:

Dr. Gabriel handed me a piece of bark marked with the word Failed. “Don’t get cocky. Everyone has their limits.”

Failed? That lout outright failed me? I dropped the bark strip and looked up as Dr. Gabriel spread his wings. With a few sharp beats, he flew out of the pit. I chased after him, searching the platform above me with my eyes. So I couldn’t fly, and I was short, but I could make that leap-

“Oof!”

Or… perhaps not. I slid back down to the floor and landed on my rump. Never one to be deterred, I leaped back to my feet. Something to boost me, something to boost me… Oh! Snatching up his forgotten broom, I backed against the opposite wall, and then ran forward. I shoved the handle of the broom into the corner offered by the platform and the floor and launched myself into the air. Yes! Yes! Ahahaha! I hurtled out of the pit and went rolling across the ground. Dr. Gabriel spun around, his mouth falling open in surprise.

“Please,” I begged him, climbing to my feet again. My broken wings batted feebly behind me. “I want to gain a Fairy education. Level with me, doctor. You don’t want Anti-Fairies filling up your precious conservative school. And I don’t want Anti-Fairies filling it up either. True, we Anti-Fairies are known for our memories, but I like to feel special, and I shouldn’t want to chance anyone stealing my thunder away from me. You let me in, and I won’t breathe a word about your biases against my people.”

Dr. Gabriel studied me with idle coldness, clutching his tablets to his chest. He drifted a few steps backwards along the corridor. “Anti-Cosmo, your genius is entirely creative. You’re severely behind in your knowledge of technical skills, and you lack basic common sense as well as a sense of self-preservation. Because of this, we can’t recommend you be placed in any advanced programs. You’ll need to stay where you’re at.”

The corners of my mouth twisted into a frown. Then a sneer. “Frankly, Dr. Gabriel, I’m not particularly fond of that option.”

With that, I yanked out the can of forget-a-cin I’d nicked from his pouch when he’d been turned the other way. Dr. Gabriel had time to look horrified before I mashed the button down. My eyes were squeezed shut, but even so, the world around me lit with white. I let the empty canister fall to the floor and opened my eyes again to find the nervous fairy glancing around in bewilderment.

“There,” I said. “I’ve just put a block over this memory of yours. I do hope no one else would care to challenge me, or I will be forced to perform the same trick on them. Now, I demand that you, good sir, will have me enrolled in all the classes of my choosing. Is that understood?”

Dr. Gabriel’s wandering eyes finally latched onto me. His shoulders shivered, although he possibly didn’t remember why. He bobbed a bit lower in the air. Then his wings fell silent altogether, and he leaned his back against the wall. He slid down to the floor. “S-security! Security?”

His voice was too weak for anyone who wasn’t an Anti-Fairy to hear. I sighed. Covering my eyes again, I made a signal with my other hand. “Oh, dear. I do apologize. I really never do this, you must understand. It’s so messy.”

If he hadn’t been so hazy from the aftereffects of the forget-a-cin, I’m sure Dr. Gabriel wouldn’t have let me get away with as much as he did. As it happened, I walked right up to him and lay my claw against the karmic pouch on the left side of his neck. He yelped, but I knocked his clumsy hands away from me without any real effort. I braced my hand against my hip.

“I really never do this. It’s vile and crude. So sorry, I really am. But then again, well, perhaps I’m really not.” And with that, I sunk my fangs into his neck. Blech. He tasted of old mutton.

Dr. Gabriel screamed. He twisted, his shoulders rapidly seizing up. I rolled my eyes and kept my fangs embedded until his coughs turned to silence and he had frozen in place, as still as a stone statue. Only then did I wrench back my head, bringing the coils of his karmic weave along with me. Most of them were blue, but here and there a pink one surfaced, or a yellow. As the colourful threads of his life whisked above us, I stood back and traced one claw beneath my eye.

“Anti-Fairy tears consist mainly of sulfuric acid, of course. And I daresay you hurt my feelings quite a bit back there, didn’t you?”

Forcing myself to cry came as naturally as forcing myself not to cry always had. I captured the burning tear on the end of my claw and, very slowly, held it out towards the paralyzed fairy sitting against the wall. For several long seconds, I let him see it glistening there. Threatening to drip down on the place where I had bitten him. Which was still bleeding.

“I never do this,” I said again, truthfully apologetic. “It’s messy and you’ll be rather cross when you wake up, assuming you wake again at all. But it is true that I am crying, and here you are, lying so very still. We’re standing rather close, aren’t we? So close that I could touch you.”

Lacking the ability to move, all Dr. Gabriel could do was sit numbly, his mouth gaping. I lowered my claw towards his neck.

“But it’s only a single tear, isn’t it? Why should a fairy care if he made an anti-fairy child cry? No, a single tear cannot hurt your conscience. A single tear may sting your skin, perhaps, but it shouldn’t cause any long-lasting problem so long as no liquid in your body is particularly warm. Oh, wait…” Here I feigned surprise, and brought my claw a mere centimetre from his karmic pouch. Green liquid trickled down his neck. I smiled. “Why, internal Fairy body temperature borders on the boiling point, does it not? Oooh, I’d hate to see what happens when that acid comes into contact with your blood. I’ve heard it’s prone to such catastrophic explosions.”

There was, of course, no reply. Sighing, I withdrew my handkerchief from my pocket and wiped the tear from my claw.

“No, but I suppose I’m a gentleman, so I shan’t leave you comfortless. As I told you, I really never do this. I’m all boasts and bluster, really. That’s all I really am. Let’s get you cleaned up, lad.”

I was just wiping away the last drops of acid from his stunned face when the door opened behind me. I looked over my shoulder to find Anti-Jolene floating there with a clipboard in hand. She took in the threads of wild karma and my kerchief, and looked at me with her ears cocked forward.

“So… How is it going?”

I sighed and tucked the handkerchief away. “Dr. Gabriel and I have just finished, painfully. I say, are business deals with Fairies always so messy?”

She smiled a thin smile. “It would behoove us to find a neutral party who could settle things between our two races more easily, wouldn’t it?”

“I’ll be cleaning karma out of my fur for weeks,” I muttered, and went about gathering up his tangled threads so I could stuff them back inside his soul.

He was one messed up kid in this draft, that is for sure. Who knows? Perhaps I’ll find a place for this scene in the current version someday, if I ever need to send an older Anti-Cosmo to a mental health facility. For now, however, it’s deleted.

“This Is a Box” was actually supposed to end differently as well. And of course, so was “This Is Halloween.” Every once in awhile I’ll have a piece get away from me and end the way it wants, but most of them end the way I plan from the start.

Thanks for all your requests! I really appreciate your curiosity!

[retphienix]

I'm actually really surprised by how much platforming is in this game. I mean, I heard Mario & Luigi had more platforming than Paper Mario, but to actually play it I'm surprised by the balance they've struck between RPG combat and platforming puzzles.

This little rush of bosses and random encounters as I saved the prince and gained the hammer was filled with both combat and platforming- and I was surprised by how diverse both were!

Bosses had interesting little mechanics that went well beyond what I'd expect. Just between these two bosses pictured here (well, mini boss and boss) we had a boss with a unique defense mechanic that required effective targeting to make him vulnerable, and a boss that has effectively one attack and he uses it interestingly. The dragon shoots more quickly if you don't jump on him to crunch his neck down- and he regularly spits out a rock to stand on that he uses to alter the angle of his attacks so they are harder to dodge.

Effectively he has just the one attack- shoot glowing rocks, yet he made it more interesting to combat with multiple speeds (which I have control over) and altering his angle (which, again, I have control over since I can break the rock before he utilizes it).

I'm.... impressed! For all the praise I'd give Paper Mario for its charm and mechanics- interesting boss fights isn't something I'd really think of. Bosses in Paper Mario aren't bad, by any mean- but comparatively these are much more interesting and yet they use the same concept! Both games emphasize simplicity and how that doesn't have to mean "bad" by making full use of those simple mechanics, but dang it, this game is really nailing that note well!

And I got hung up talking about the combat- but the platforming has been interesting in how it keeps getting expanded on as well! It’s a lot more puzzle oriented than “normal” Mario games, which I think is a nice direction to take it so that this feels different from normal Mario games even when it does something a normal Mario game would do (like platforming). Just to say a few things- the multiple jumps I have access to have been used regularly to maneuver areas- and new tools like tornados that elongate my spin jump and puzzles like this water/fire puzzle have been added so far. It’s honestly pretty neat~

Also pictured is the really cool prince whom I love, and a demonstration of the main baddie (Cackletta) disguising herself with magic and stealing a magic star because of course there is a magical star in a Mario game.

[vendily-blog]

This is gonna be a long one about the Mario Timeline...

Spoilers for a large number of the games in the series, mostly for the ones that I’ve played.

So to start, I need to establish two things. First, the Paper universe is separate from the rest of the games (Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam), and I’ve only played the first one. (I really need to beat it...). Second, it get’s really hard to accurately place the timing of the Super Mario series, as well as their relation of the other RPG Mario series, so there are a few headcanons, clearly marked as such, and a lot of is is by release date, which is fun.

I realize I get more sarcastic as I get along, I wasn’t expecting the list to get this long, because kept on adding more games.

Okay with that settled let’s get to the games.

Baby Luigi is kidnapped and the stork is captured by Kamek and his cronies. Baby Mario and the Yoshi’s rescue them both and beat up Baby Bowser (Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island)

The Stork delivers the bros to the wrong house, and while fixing that mistake, Baby Luigi is kidnapped and the stork is captured by Kamek and his cronies. Baby Mario and the Yoshi’s rescue them both and beat up Baby Bowser, fucking Bowser comes back in time to fuck with shit, and the Adult Mario also comes back in time to help by giving you that powerup that is literally just a “you suck at this level, don’t ya”, while disguised as a pipe. (Yoshi’s New Island, which is fun. I beat the whole thing in one sitting the day I got it)

Future Kamek and his cronies kidnap all the babies so Bowser can get the star babies. Magic powers or something. Baby Mario and Baby Peach are rescued by the stork and the Yoshi’s rescue everyone, yay! (Yoshi’s Island DS, my first Yoshi’s Island game.)

The shroobs take over Mushroom Kingdom. Time is fucked because Peach wanted to ride in Professor E.Gadd’s Time Machine. The Adult Bros team up with their now toddler selves, and proceed to nearly ruin the Mushroom Kingdom. Nearly. Also E.Gadd stopped studying Thwomps after his lab is destroyed, and moves to Boo Woods in Evershade Valley to study ghosts. (Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon)

The adult Mario and Luigi move to the Metro Kingdom and do construction work (Wreaking Crew. Also Super Mario Odyssey. It’s a headcanon)

Pauline is kidnapped by Donkey Kong Sr., who latter ages poorly and goes by Cranky Kong nowadays. Mario rescues her but she loses her purse. (Donkey Kong, Super Mario Odyssey)

Mario and Pauline date, but it doesn’t work out and they have an amicable break up and stay friends (Mostly headcanon, Super Mario Odyssey)

Mario and Luigi do plumbing instead. While working, they get attacked by various creatures, including Koopas and Spinys. (Mario Bros., as well as headcanon, though Mariowiki lists an interview confirming that this game takes place in New York, so also Super Mario Odyssey)

Mario and Luigi move back to the Mushroom Kingdom. (No game here, but not really a head canon either.)

Princess Peach as well as a few Toads are kidnapped by Bowser, and the rest have been magically transformed into Question Mark blocks. Mario and Luigi go and rescue them all. A number of Toads are inspired by their bravery and proceed to do as much as they can to help them in the future, including one group becoming the Toad Brigade, led by Captain Toad.(Super Mario Bros, Super Mario Galaxy. Headcanon includes Toad Houses in all of the games that have them)

Bowser, not undeterred by his earlier defeat at the hands of the plumbers, kidnaps Peach again and puts more challenges in their way. They beat him anyway. (Super Mario Bros 2 JPN)

Mario has a trippy dream. (Super Mario Bros 2 USA)

Goddamn it, Bowser. This time not only does he kidnap Peach, he enlists the Koopalings to steal the magic wands from the smaller states within the Mushroom Kingdom and transform their rulers into various creatures. He ends up effectively defeating himself, because building a death pit covered by blocks you can destroy is a smart idea (Super Mario Bros 3, my favorite)

Princess Peach hears news that the ruler of the neighbouring kingdom, Sarasaland, Princess Daisy, was kidnapped by space monster Tatanga. Mario goes on his merry way to rescue her. (Super Mario Land)

Wario takes over a castle that Mario had, for some reason, while he was rescuing Daisy. Do I really have to include this game, it doesn’t fit any more, even if it is fun. (Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins)

Bowser, who had laid low on Dinosaur Island in the Cascade Kingdom, traps the Yoshis in eggs and kidnaps Peach again, putting the Koopalings in charge of keeping Mario away. We all know what happens. (Super Mario World, headcanon on the location of Dinosaur Island based on Super Mario Odyssey. You can’t tell me that the skeleton in Fossil Falls isn’t a giant Reznor)

Bowser and the Koopalings open  hotels and kidnap Peach (Hotel Mario)

Bowser kidnaps Peach, but gets thwarted, not by Mario (though he did give a good trouncing), but a giant sword. I didn’t beat this game, but robots happen apparently. (Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars)

Bowser kidnaps Peach in 3-D!!!!! Mario defeats Bowser after building speed for 12 5 hours and many parallel universes. (Super Mario 64, I love Pannenkoek’s videos. Did you know there’s are a number of faster routes now for the A Button Challenge?)

Paper Bowser has stolen the Star Rod, and seals the Star Spirits into cards, then, you guessed it, kidnaps Peach. Paper Mario fixes everything, but he’s overprotective, so he doesn’t let Paper Luigi help him. (Paper Mario 64)

E.Gadd at this point had captured a large portion of the Boos and Ghosts in the Gloomy Mansion, including Boolossus, a very loyal servant to King Boo. King Boo, in revenge, attack and frees all of the captured ghosts and Boos, and decides to trap all of his enemies, including the Mario Bros., who are on his hit list for some reason, into paintings. (Luigi’s Mansion, Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon)

Luigi finds the letter saying he won a mansion in the mail. Ecstatic, he tells Mario to meet him there. They don’t meet. Mario is trapped into a painting, and Luigi almost is himself if E.Gadd hadn’t come to the rescue. Luigi saves Mario, everyone’s happy. (Luigi’s Mansion)

Mario accompanies Princess Peach on her vacation to Isle Delfino. Luigi stays home because the mansion was enough excitement for now. Bowser Jr fucks shit up and kidnaps Peach, to impress Bowser. Mario saves the day in the end. (Super Mario Sunshine, which emulates poorly)

Prince Peasley from the neighboring Beanbean Kingdom warns Princess Peach that Cackletta was after her voice. Cackletta and Fawful steal a Birdo disguised as Peach’s voice, though Peach ends up getting kidnapped. Then not kidnapped through a stunt that people love to draw, Luigi crossdressing (and a fine one too). Stuff happens, Bowser get’s possessed. (Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga)

A toy company using Mario’s image creates a new line of Mini Mario’s. Donkey Kong really wants them, but they have sold out, so he robs a store. Mario was in the area and stops him, though it turns out Donkey Kong had dropped all of the toys. Enraged, Donkey Kong grabs the toads running the store and climbs to the top of the building. Mario rescues them, and in the process, knock Donkey Kong off the building onto a truck delivering the next shipment. He tries to steal those, but fails miserably. Donkey Kong is sad that he failed, but Mario gives him a free Mini Mario to cheer him up. (Mario vs Donkey Kong, which I sadly can not find a copy of.)

Paper Mario goes on an adventure. Paper Peach is kidnapped by an evil oganization trying to summon a shadow demon, and Paper Bowser just... messes around I guess. (Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door)

Bowser kidnaps Peach again, sending a letter of invitation in her name to the Mario Bros and Wario for some cake. They also get captured. Yoshi rescues Mario, who rescues Luigi, who rescues Wario. They do stuff, and Mario beats Bowser, because Bowser asked nicely to fight him. (Super Mario 64 DS)

Bowser, irritated with all of his losses at the hands of the Mario bros gets his hands on the Vibe Scepter, which can manipulate the emotions of everyone in it’s vicinity. He kidnaps just about everyone but Peach. Peach, armed with Perry the umbrella that used to be a human or something and really abusable mood swings, fight Bowser. (Super Princess Peach)

E.Gadd reveals the Time Machine he’s been working on. Princess Peach travels back in time and accidentally messed a lot of things up.

Peach gets kidnapped by Bowser Jr while on a walk with Mario. She gets rescued, and Bowser temporarily becomes Dry Bowser. (New Super Mario Bros.)

Mario and Luigi Go to collect coins. Princess Peach is kidnapped by the Koopalings. Rinse and repeat. (New Super Mario Bros. 2)

A Mini Mario amusement park is opened in New Donk City, and both Mayor Pauline and Mario have come to see the opening. Donkey Kong attempts to woo Pauline with a Mini Donkey Kong at the same time that Mario offers her a Mini Mario. Pauline takes the Mini Mario and the heartbroken Donkey Kong grabs her and rides the elevator to the top of the building, taking presents along the way. Mario saves the day using the Mini Marios and everybody is happy. (Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis, headcanon involving Super Mario Odyssey)

Paper Mario and the rest of the crew go on an adventure in Parallel dimensions to stop the multiverse from getting fucked. (Super Paper Mario)

Bowser hasn’t done much in a while, so he fucking kidnaps Peach during the Star Festival by lifting her castle into fucking space. Mario also get’s launched into space. The Toad Brigade give Luigi a lift as they travel through space to help Mario, though Luigi get’s lost somehow and the Brigade get stranded on Honeyhive Galaxy. Anyway, an adventure happens, a Luma throws itself into a Blackhole the Bowser had created in his new galaxy, and everybody is happy. (Super Mario Galaxy)

The Mushroom Kingdom gets two Star Festivals as Rosalina had passed close by a second time during the events of the first game. Bowser, nor to be out done by a double festival, proceeds to double kidnap Peach. Yeah... (Super Mario Galaxy 2, also personal headcanon, because there’s no way this game is 100 years after the previous one.)

Archivist Toadette finds pieces of the Dark Moon in Evershade Valley and gives them to E.Gadd to study. He later finds the rest of the pieces and the restored Dark Moon pacifies the ghosts. (This is 100% headcanon.)

Bowser ends up inhaling everyone in Peach’s Castle as well as a bunch of stuff found around the Mushroom Kingdom because of a Vacuumshroom given to him by Fawful. Some random stuff happens, including Bowser turning into a giant whenever he is basically almost dead, and a ball of Dark matter being the final villain. (Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story. Also, because of Tumblr, I can’t play this game any more without thinking of fucking fetishes. Good Job.)

The Koopalings and Bowser Jr kidnap Peach at her birthday party. Mario and Luigi go to rescue her after the initial shock of the incident wears off, though not before two very brave Toads ask to join them. The rest proceeds fairly normally, and Princess Peach is rescued. (New Super Mario Bros. Wii)

E.Gadd sells the King Boo Portrait at a garage sale. (Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon)

Bowser kidnaps Peach and knocks all of the leaves off the famous Tanooki Leaf Tree that looks like it has a tail. Mario saves the day and every gets a tail. (Super Mario 3D Land. You can find that same tree in Odyssey.)

Paper Bowser becomes really powerful because he gets a sticker stuck on him. Using this power, he beats Paper Mario, kidnaps Paper Peach, and sticks a bunch of toads to the wall for the hell of it. Paper Bowser plays with tape, and we all know how this ends. (Paper Mario: Sticker Star)

Captain Toad goes on an adventure to collect Green Stars and rescue Archivist Toadette. After rescuing her, he sees a green star fall into the clear pipe to the Sprixie Kingdom.

Mario, Luigi, Peach, and a Toad are enjoying a festival until they find a clear pipe. After repairing it, a Sprixie Princess exits, telling of Bowser capturing the other princesses before being captured herself. The crew follow, and everybody gets a cat suit. (Super Mario 3D World)

King Boo puts his plan into place, shattering the Dark Moon and hiding the pieces. Fortunately, Luigi is summoned by E.Gadd and with the help of the Polterguist 5000, collects pieces of the Dark Moon. Turns out Mario was turned into a painting, as well as the Toads that aid E.Gadd in his research. Luigi defeats King Boo again, Mario is saved and the Dark Moon is restored. (Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon)

Luigi has narcolepsy. Bowser and Antasma team up to steal the Dream stone and grant their wishes. A much needed ego boost is given to Luigi. (Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, which is fun.)

DK kidnaps Pauline for literally no reason. Mario uses toys to save her. (Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Tipping Stars)

Luigi drops a book and unleashes the Paper universe. Paper Bowser and Bowser team up and kidnap both Paper Peach and Peach. Mario, Luigi, and Paper Mario also team up and save the day. While they were gone, Shy guys drink paint or something. (Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam, Paper Mario: Color Splash)

Paper Mario paints stuff that the Shy Guys drank, I guess. (Paper Mario: Color Splash)

Bowser kidnaps Peach so he can marry her, and steals stuff for his wedding. Mario and Cappy get stylish. And this damn game is beautiful. (Super Mario Odyssey)

That’s the whole series, not really including the Wario games, or the Yoshi games, as well as the various spinoffs like Mario Party and the like. But other than that, if it has Mario in it, it was included.

[federthenotsogreat]

I kinda wanna talk about this so here it goes:

One thing I have always associated Cackletta with was her determination. Her will to not give up no matter how bad of a situation she was in.

I drew this picture after watching a let's player fight her without ever having tried the battle before. He gave everything he had but she just wouldn't give up. She just refused to. In the last rounds of their battle, she forced him to heal over and over again, stopping him from attacking and dealing damage.

That reminded me of how I myself used to try this fight quite often a few years ago. I had everything figured out so I tried some stuff that would make the battle even harder and one of those challenges in particular caused me to die quite often. No matter how many times I died, everytime I would restart she would just be standing there, staring me down, determined to end this battle in her favor once again. The more I attacked the more she would fire back at me, using her own frustration as her greatest weapon to tear me to shreds no matter how impossible it seemed. It didn't matter if she only got a few scratches or was basically dead the last time we fought. It didn't matter if I ripped out her arm one or one hundred times. She would always wait for me to come back, so she could finally get me to quit this battle once and for all. And with every time I came back she was determined to win again and again no matter how slim the chance of me actually quitting was.

And the feeling that I first felt when thinking about this is something that I will never let myself forget.

💛Determination💛

[greatcacklingwitch-moved]

(( got energy, time to drabble ))

Have you ever felt the world quake before you, a shift that is so great that any of the Kingdoms can hardly handle it? Of course not, most people are ignorant to a sign of things to come.

But I was not.  The guards were skeptical when I tipped them off to something that could bring them down in one swift motion before they knew it was coming, and lo and behold, the unpredictable happened and landed them into the hospital. 

Of course, completely missing the irony of the evidence that increased over the years, they were still skeptical when I yet again informed them that they better watch out.

“Cackletta is dead, she was a threat that was dealt with. Unlike you, she wouldn’t succumb to fading into obscurity.”

“Let us not make this about me, you are avoiding obvious danger. She is alive, I can sense her raw power, her desire, her passion, her hatred.”

“Are you sure you can even feel anything?”

“You would not understand, you newbies do not know anything about the mere presence of magic that has been the foundation of this Kingdom for ages! Forget it, you can all burn for all I care.”

“Miss Gerakki, don’t overreact. We don’t want our citizens being put into a panic because you want to make us think someone dangerous could still be lurking. Some guards may be recent additions, but we don’t trust you. Horns are sort of a tip off to a threat.”

After hearing that, I stormed out. They did not understand, they refused to comprehend. Though they were right, I did want to scare them. I was just hoping they would be more riled up, wanting to actually put a fight against a maniacal menace like Cackletta. 

If they wanted to stay in a state of bliss, I could not save them. Not my fault they would not take the effort to read a damned book.

It’s all I did. Day in day out, reading the journal that I wrote about the shadow of Beanbean Kingdom, my own project, Cackletta. I still had a duty to check on her progress, and try to put the pieces together on how her energy still lingers, slithering around in plain sight.

I cannot say if I have been successful. I would probably make more progress if I actually tried to speak with the monster I created, but considering the echoing boom that marked her revival, that overwhelming strength towering over me, I do not think even I would get far.

If she’s like me, she’s not the social type.

[bean-n-shroob]

I just babble about a few stuff. I rant a bit in the second half.

Don’t have to read it, I just want to write this out.

So I’ve been thinking about some things

I’m a bit on the fence on whether or not I want a Superstar Saga HD remake

I feel like given how Mario & Luigi has evolved over the years with each installment, an HD remake of Superstar Saga would probably include a bunch of stuff to make it up to date with Paper Jam

SS doesn’t have double jump attacks, nor bro items, nor Giant Fights. Would they add those? Would they stay faithful?

But to stay faithful would mean to release a game with less than half of the features that Paper Jam had. And much like most HD remakes that Nintendo has released (Super Mario 64, Twilight Princess, Wind Waker) Nintendo will probably urge Alpha Dreams to make some changes too.

What would they change? Would they try to find ways to incorporate Giant Fights? Will they replace Bros Moves? What would they add?

Of course they’d add the Boss Arenas, with the X versions of past bosses. There will probably be a secret boss at the end. They’ll most definitely update the Koopalings to look like the current ones.

Honestly what makes me worried the most is will they change who the final boss is? Yeah it’s stupid to think about  but I legit don’t want them to make Bowser the true final boss/

“But how would they do that????”

I can think of two ways:

1. Bowser doesn’t get knocked out when Cackletta’s Soul is beaten out, so they fight Bowser afterwards

2. Before the Bros. finally escape Bowser’s Castle, Bowser appears and blocks their path. There’s a save block near the exit anyway (I mean it’s gone at the ending sequence but they could put it back) would make sense to put the “Final Bowser Fight” there as to not make the player go through the Bowletta fight again if they lose. And granted it be cinematic and very cliche final confrontation.

So yeah, TL;DR: I’m worried that Superstar Saga HD will have too many unnecessary changes to make it more current and I’m also worried they’ll make Bowser the Final Boss as an added bonus twist and to surprise people who already played the first game.

Warning: Rant on Color Splash below

I don’t HATE Color Splash, I just don’t think it’s a Good Game

Or more so “actually good game” or “pretty good game” or “surprisingly good game”. No. I think it’s bad. Like, “the good parts doesn’t make up for the bad parts” bad.

And it mostly has to do with the Finale

I hate the Final Boss, I hate the Final Area, I hate the Final Chase Sequence. I hate the Final Koopaling Fight. I hate that this is the pay off to having to deal with all the flaws of the game.

The battle sequence is so annoying! The World Map is so tedious. The Objects are so jarring. The Cutout Mechanic is so dumb, I got stuck in one because I had it aligned with one pattern but it wasn’t the pattern the game wanted. The character designs are insultingly basic. The only plot twist (Who the VIP was) only happened cause I was expecting the game to be mediocre but it was actually a Koopaling .o. gasp, you surpassed the lowest bar!

And honestly I could’ve dealt with all that. I kept going cause I wanted to see how this story will end! And I hate the end! So I dealt with all this tediousness for a finale that’s beyond infuriating!

Yes, the environments are beautiful. Yes, the dialogue are funny. Yes, the Painting is enjoyable. Yes, Huey is great.

But they do nothing to make all the bad less bad. They don’t make the finale less infuriating! The Huey sacrifice wasn’t that touching. And the danger of black paint didn’t affect me in no way cause the story basically forgot about it after the first intro in the first ‘chapter’. And the first time black paint appeared was dealt so easily that I didn’t see any reason to fear it!

Why does this game piss me off so much? AH! Maybe because people will think I only hate it because it’s not TTYD but I never played that game, I played the first game. And if anything, I like Super Paper Mario better. I want the next Paper Mario to be more like Super Paper Mario!

Or at least similar in the sense that it’s NOT AN RPG!

I like SPM more cause it doesn’t have an annoying battle system that halters the story telling and give more focus to the enviroments and story rather than a tedious battle mechanic. It’s just jumping on enemies and bosses, simple! Back to the story! F*ck, I don’t even like the battle mechanic of the first Paper Mario! It’s just more bearable to deal with than Color Splash.

That’s what I want for a future Paper Mario game, no RPG elements! Leave it! Paper Mario works better as a story driven game than a battle driven game! Super Paper Mario and Color Splash is proof of that!

Fuck! I think this is how Sticker Star fans feel when people shit on Sticker Star. Except the opposite

How petty of me to get pissed off every time someone says Color Splash is a good game...

Okay, maybe I hate Color Splash